Yes, Variety is the spice of life, dear speaker/business presenter! You work hard at planning your content and structure, but do you work hard on creating variety in your delivery?This is a must if you want to keep your audience tuned in, and interested in staying with you. Let's examine 5 ways where you can create variety.
1. Variety in delivery format to hold their attention If you're doing a business training/presentation
Vary your talk time with audience talk time- alternate between lecture, discussion, activity, PowerPoint, video clip, storytelling, working on handout, and so on, to keep audience’s attention
If you do use Power Point, first plan your presentation with your message, then and only then, plan which slides, text or graphics will enhance your message ( more on proper use of Power point in an upcoming newsletter)
2. Variety of emotions…take them on a rollercoaster ride of emotions when telling your stories or cases by showing emotional shifts in characters'situations from problems to solutions.
3. Variety of visual effects… body language: face, gestures, stance, posture to reflect or demonstrate above.
4. Variety in stage movement …not staying glued to one spot or continually wandering back and forth for no reason. No purpose movement or no movement at all distracts from you and your message. When to move?
·- on transition between one thought and the next. If you have ¾ points, discuss the different points in different spots; feel free to move while you are stating i.e “And the 2nd point…”
- on creating a timeline sequence i.e. “Fast forward 6 years…”
- on a movement-specific line. If your lines suggest movement i.e. “As I entered his office…”
5. Variety in vocal language… If you want your audience to experience a “rollercoaster ride” of emotions, vocal variety is the ticket. Use projection (volume & tone), pitch (highs/ lows), pacing (speed/rate), and the power of the pause. The power of the pause is often overlooked, when, in fact, it’s a very effective tool in delivering a believable and memorable message. Pausing at the right moment in a speech can add emphasis to important points, allows audience to reflect on them, digest what you said, makes you appear confident and self-asuured and creates a lasting impression on the listener.(see more on Pause below chart)
It demonstrates the degree of believability a voice trait establishes with
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Voice Traits
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Establishes
Low Believability
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Establishes
High Believability
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Projection (volume & tone)
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LOW
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VARIED
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Pitch (high/lows)
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HIGH
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LOW (listen to commercials)
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Pacing (speed/rate)
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FAST
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CONTROLLED
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Pauses (breaks in speeches)
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NEVER
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FREQUENT (see below)
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When to pause? Here are a few instances:
· Pause for few seconds after you are introduced before you say your first word while looking into the eyes of the members in your audience, taking them in and, in turn, they taking you in. A pause draws their attention immediately.
· Pause and stand still and grounded before and after making an important point
· Pause in place of using filler words
· Pause before responding to a question being asked by an audience member; this gives you time to reflect on the best response with which to answer
The ability to be comfortable with pauses takes time and comfort as a presenter, so take one step at a time!
Patricia Fripp says: "Rehearsal is the work; performance is the relaxation." Don't wait until the last minute; give yourself time to practise, whether you are a senior executive, middle management or simply holding a meeting.
I promise you that the more you rehearse, the more you can relax and the more you enjoy your delivery of presentation...AND SO WILL YOUR AUDIENCE!
Until next month, happy speaking! 
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